Asisreo
Patron Badass
Yeah, death spirals kinda suck to be on the receiving end of. It's basically the opposite of what you said combat should be minus the deadly.As it should be IMO. MWAHAHAHAHA!!!
The problem is a lot of players IME from other posts claim they don't want death spirals. I've always liked them, myself, but meh
I've been working on a d20 SW-like system but instead of using wound points, it brings exhaustion into the equation. So far it has worked well if you want a brutal, gritty style of combat instead of the slog-fest 5E is much of the time.
If they're in a situation where they're doomed to fail, or at least feel like they are, they'll just check out.
It's like playing chess where the enemy has you completely cornered (even if you aren't necessarily in check) but you're not allowed to forfeit and have to sit there for 10 minutes playing a game you already lost.